


Some have auras of bright colors

by Plinycapybara



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Epilepsy, Illnesses, Loneliness, M/M, Medicine, Poetry, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-30
Updated: 2013-11-30
Packaged: 2018-01-03 01:27:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1064053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Plinycapybara/pseuds/Plinycapybara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Armin Arlert has been homebound due to constant seizures since elementary school. Going to the pharmacy is an adventure for him. One day while waiting for his prescription, he falls down and is taken by a brave (and somewhat naive) teenager named Eren.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some have auras of bright colors

I have a love-hate relationship with leaving the windows open. On one hand, it allows for my tiny world of my bedroom to become loosely connected to the outside, but on the other, I am forced to overhear sheer idiocy. Yesterday, I was forced to listen to the conversation of two young middle school-aged girls on their routine journey back home. They paused, stopped and glanced up at the open window. Confused because apparently they’ve never seen an open window, they glanced at each other.   
“Does that Armin kid still live there?” The first one asked.   
“Actually, I saw him leave his house to go to the CVS Pharmacy last week.”   
“Really? I thought he moved. He’s never in school.”   
“That’s because he’s always sick. At least that’s what I’ve heard from the school nurse.”   
“That’s a shame. I heard he was really smart. Ms. Zoe said he was in ninth grade math in the second grade.” the first girl sighed, “Not that Ms. Zoe can be trusted--she tends to exaggerate,”   
“Yeah. Hey, want to try that bakery that sells that rainbow bread?” The other girl nodded. They left as if they never even bothered to look up at the open window in the first place. 

“Rainbow fucking bread; what the hell will they think of next, Jean?” I glanced over my seizure dog, Jean. He huffed and cynically turned his head, as if to say, Armin, you’re the only mildly sane human I know. What did you expect of humanity? Jean was a mix of a German Shepherd and a Rottweiler. I considered Jean to be human--he was as smart as than most humans, at least based on my limited experience in human encounters. The other humans I knew was Christa, the nice Pharmacist behind the CVS counter. There was Erwin, my psychiatrist. There was Connie, who went to CVS every few days to buy a pack of cigarettes, a few Monster energy drinks and a pack of Orbit gum. And there was Marco, a kind-hearted man who was always in the line at the Pharmacy to get his Insulin pills for his type 1 diabetes. There was Petra, the secretary at Erwin’s office. That was mostly it. 

My name is Armin Arlert, and one could say that I’m the ultimate shut-in unless you knew my reasoning. I haven’t gone to a movie theatre in eight years. I’ve long forgotten what TV shows have been cancelled or which ones are still running. I haven’t even dreamt of going to a concert. Going to the pharmacy is an adventure for me. Well, ever since my on-set of my frequent, grand-mal seizures developed the summer between second and third grade. As I glanced around the room, at the bookcases, at the wall--dots of pink, white, and square-shapes that appeared as windows blocked my vision. Sometimes they were colorless, but they never left my sight. They covered the room like the stars on a night sky (at least from the pictures that I’ve seen of stars on a nightsky). I remembered a few lines of a poem--and I long forgotten the author’s name, 

"Some girls have auras bright colors,   
but mine were silver stars on walls,   
tears when I sat at my mother’s bay window"

I heard Jean’s barking. My vision turned into one of those strange, film noir--flipping back and forth, shaking. Then darkness. I awoke, and it was sunset already. Even though I was sleeping for around five hours, I was still tired. My tongue was swollen and I bit in the back. Though I knew that I had to venture to the CVS. My pills were almost out. I put Jean’s leash on. 

I licked the saliva off the sides of lips as I entered the CVS. Marco was already in line. He glanced back at Jean, smiling and petting his favorite parts, “You know, Armin, I love it when you bring Jean in. Its my favorite part of the week!”   
“How’s the Insulin pills working out?” I asked.   
“Alright, I guess. I’m dreading the wedding I have to go to next week. I never get to eat the cake,”   
“That must be awful,” Christa sighed.   
“Tell me about it,” Marco groaned and picked up his prescription. He toyed with petting Jean more. I glanced over at the display of nail polish. The auras of colorless stars had followed me here. Suddenly, I heard Jean barking again. The all-too-familiar darkness blocked my vision. 

\--

“Seriously, Mikasa why do you keep insisting that I buy shaving cream? I can just shave in the shower.” Eren whined. Mikasa rolled her eyes. Eren then glanced over at the drug counter, “Am I hallucinating? You hear a dog barking, don’t you?”   
“Actually, yes, I do...we didn’t eat something spoiled, did we?” Mikasa asked.  
“Hey, if there’s a friggin dog in a bloody drug store--I might just have to check it out.” Eren threw the shaving cream into the hand-held cart. Mikasa sighed and followed him. 

Upon coming to the counter where a panicked Christa, barking Jean and close-to-having-a-heart-attack Marco were hovering over my unconscious body, Eren felt his “hero”-complex to come into action. “I’ll take care of this, everyone!”   
“You don’t even know his name.” Mikasa tried to smack sense into her brother, even though she knew it was a lost cause.   
“Do you know Armin?” Christa asked.   
Eren paused, “Yes! He’s my...cousin. Let me take him home and let him get some rest.”   
“EREN!” Mikasa cringed.   
Christa paused, “Usually our protocol to call the paramedics, but if you’re a family member, I suppose that’s fine.” 

\--

I awoke to find a few more bites on my tongue. The auras still followed me, and I was still almost too tired to move my limbs. I could barely remember even how I managed to get to CVS on foot. The auras weren’t reflected on the same ceiling, though. The ceiling fan is a different color. 

“He’s awake. MIKASA, HE’S ALIVE!” a brown-haired boy with bright green eyes smiled straight at my face.   
“Well, you just kidnapped a random stranger. You know you could be arrested for this.” Mikasa pointed out, “I’ll bail you out, Eren, but let this be lesson.”   
“Where...where am I? WHO ARE YOU!?” I exclaimed.   
“Well, my name is Mikasa. This is my brother Eren. If I wasn’t here to protect him, he’d be in jail.”   
“HEY, I WAS TRYING TO HELP HIM!” Eren snapped.   
“What did happen back there, anyway?” Mikasa asked.   
“I just had another seizure. I have them daily. I only leave my house once or twice a week. To be honest, thank you. Is Jean here?” I glanced around. Jean was, in fact, in the apartment with these strangers. He glanced over at me.   
“Wait, really?” Eren blinked, “You’ve barely been out of your house.”  
“Yeah, but-”   
“THAT’S HORRIBLE! WE SHOULD GET YOU OUT TO DO SOME THINGS! Let see a movie or something or a concert or-”   
“I’ve never seen a movie.”   
“...Holy shit,” Eren blinked, “Like, not even on TV?”   
“I haven’t watched TV in eight years.”   
“...So, um,” Eren glanced over at Mikasa, who shrugged, “You’ve been stuck in this time-warp?”   
“You could say that. I don’t mind really, though. Though...it does get lonely.” I drifted off.   
“Do you ever go to school?” Mikasa asked.   
“I’m home-schooled. I used to, and I was at the top of my class, until the onset of my seizures.”   
“What the hell should we do!?” Eren asked.   
“You were the one who kidnapped the guy.” Mikasa whispered, “How should I know?”   
“I’m glad that Jean’s still here, though. I couldn’t imagine life without him. Thank you for bringing him with me.” I smiled, “I have to go home-”   
“Go home? You mean go back to your little time-warp?” Eren asked.   
“But-”   
“You’ve got to do things! Come on!” Eren insisted.   
“BUT, YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” I tried to reason with him. Eren was much stronger than I was, so I couldn’t physically fight against him. 

This was going to be painful.

**Author's Note:**

> "Some girls have auras of bright colors" is a poem by my former poetry mentor, Sandee Gertz Umbach.


End file.
